The paper has recorded a growing number of distressed sales in the past three years, with 44 agriculture properties sold in 2010 and 55 in 2011.

“I’m more nervous now about the $1 million to $5 million bracket than I am about the corporate stuff,” said Mr Schell, who is marketing the distressed Rewards Ark portfolio of orchards in Western Australia and Queensland.

The forced sales have already begun in earnest, with half a dozen receivership sales going to auction over the next fortnight. McGrath­Nicol partner John Cronin said there were “certainly a lot more changes this year”.

“The tenor of things out there at the moment is that there are a lot of banks working through a lot of problematic situations,” Mr Cronin said.

McGrathNicol has Ray White Real Estate’s Andrew Adcock selling the 2500 hectare Bengalla Station at Goondiwindi near the NSW and Queensland border.

The property has already sold off about $4 million worth of water and the former owners invested heavily in infrastructure. Expectations are for a sale of up to $3.5 million.

“Buyers in the market place today are only really looking for properties that are overcapitalised,” Mr Adcock said. “I think there will be more distressed sales this year for sure.”

McGrathNicol has also taken a 1200-hectare rural block at Kooralbyn west of the Gold Cost to market, which could fetch up to $2 million.

Further south on the Clarence River in northern NSW, McGrathNicol has appointed PRDNationwide to auction a 3400-hectare cattle grazing property outside Casino this Friday.

But of all the geographies, the most sensitive and heavily indebted is the central and north Queensland cattle station market. Values have only been saved there by the resources industry buying up land for mining purposes.

Next month, Elders, on behalf of receivers Ferrier Hodgson, will auction the 32,500-hectare Fairview north-west of Longreach. The property has a carrying capacity of about 3800 head of breeding cattle.